Vending machines



June 8, 1965 P. F. BURTON ET#-\L 3,187,941

4 VENDING MACHYINES Filed Jan. 27, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mvEN'roRs Paul E BurZan/ fauZ I. Fzeagza ATTORNEYS June 1965 P. F. BURTON ETAL 3,1

VENDING MACHINES Filed Jan. 27. 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 I'NVENTORS Paul E Bariazz PauZ I. Fleagle MATTORNEYS 3,187,941 & VENDING MACHINES Paul F. Burton and Paul F. Fleagle, both of Charlestow n, V

. W. Va., 'assignors to Dixie-Narco, Inc., Charlestown,

W. Va., a corporation of West Virginia 1 Filed Jan. 27, 1954, Ser. No. 340,281 Claims. (Cl. 221- 125)I This invention relates to vending machines and partioularly machines for vending bottles of beverages or the like. The present invention constitutes an improvement on the machine described and claimed in our application Serial No. 171,722, filed February 7, 1962, now Patent No. 3,115,274 of December 24, 1963.

In general, the machine described in the patentincludes pivoted gate members blocking withdrawalfof bottles from dispensing stations and a coin release mechanism.

' When the mechanism is released by deposit by a proper coin, any one of the gates may be swung to open position in response to withdrawal of abottle. Swinging movement of a gate to open position causes a lock plate to slide a predetermined distance. The lock plate is normally latched against sliding movement by means of a pivoted latch element having a nose portion extending into a slot in the plate." The latch and lock plate cooperate in such manner that a predetermined movement of the lock plate is necessary, before the latch is free to swing to a completely released position. This necessitates making the slot of such length that some movement of the plate is possible before it is arrested by the latch even though thernechanism is not released by a coin. This free movement of the plateis objectionable sinceit might encourage unscrupulous persons to try to manipulate the machine and withdraw a bottle therefrom without depositing the required coinage. The permitted movement of the plate could result in damage to the machine and mechanism and it is the purposeof the present invention to substantially eliminate that initial movement previously permitted and thus protect the mechanism against damage as a result of unauthorized or improper manipulation.

Briefly, the improvement comprises the provision of Q a dog element pivotally mounted on the lock plate and having a portion which, in etfect, blocksone end of the slot in the lock plate soas to prevent unauthorized initial movement of the plate. The dog element is adapted to provide an improved bottle vending mechanism arranged to prevent improper and unauthorized partial manipulation of the parts and thus prevent possible damage to the mechanism and unauthorized withdrawal of bottles therefrom.

Additional obiects and advantages will become apparent to those skilledin the art as thedescription proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a fragmentary portion of a bottle vending machine incorporating the present invention; a c

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially along the line 2-72. of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the mech anism incorporating the invention; and Y FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7 are views similar to FIG. 2 but showing the parts in various relative positions during different portions of acycle of operationj Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the vending machine is provided with suitable stationary frame elements 2 and 4. Sloping supply shelves (not shown sequentially feed bottles of beverage to dispensing platforms 6, upon which they rest in alignment with discharge openings in the machine frame. The bottles normally rest on the platform 6 with their necks extending to the right as seen in FIG. 1 but withdrawal of the bottles in that direction is prevented by gates 3, pivotally supported on the frame of the machine on horizontal pivot axes 10. A link 12 is pivotally connected to the lower portion of each gate 8 and extends rearwa-rdly therefrom, being provided at its rear end with a roller or abutment 14 guided for movement along a "horizontal path. A series of lock blocks 16 are provided to extend across the path of movement of the abutments 14 so that when one gate 8 is swung to its open position, its associated abutment 14 separates the adjacent lock blocks 16 to thus block sliding movement of all other abutments 14 associated with the other gates of the machine. The pivot pins 18.. by which the links 12 are pivoted to the gates 8 extend.

laterally through slots 29 in a slidable lock plate 22. Each slot 20 is provided with a flange 24 at its upper edge de fining a cam surface sloping downwardly and forwardly from each pin 18 when the gates are all in closed position. Each slot 20 is of generally V-shape, having a vertical leg 26 extending downwardly from the pins 1 8. As will be apparent, swinging movement of any gate 8 in a counter clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 1, will cause its pin 18 to slide along the cam edge 24 and thereby raise or lift the sliding lock plate 22. The pin 1=8 of only. the gate 8 being opened will cause the plate 22 to rise, all other pins 13 are embraced by the vertical legs 26 of the V-shaped slots and this prevents swinging movement of any other gate. This is in addition to the blocking effect of the lock blocks 16. Thus, once a gate 8 is opened it must be re-.

' turned to fully closed position before the pin 18 of any other gate is in position to swing outwardly in a slot 20.

. This insures that, upon delivery ofone bottle from the mechanism, the lock plate 22 must be returned to its lowermost position before any other gate can be opened. When a gate 8 is swung back to its closed position, spring 28 causes lock plate 22 to move downwardly and near the end of its downward movement it actuates a switch 30 to deenergize a release solenoid 32 and return the part to locked condition so that the plate 22 cannot again be raised without depositing a coin in the machinej The means for locking the plate 212 in its lowermost position comprises a pivoted latch 34 and a slot 36 in the lock plate 22. The latch 34 has a nose portion 38 extending inmachine, at 40, and has a lower extension 42 closely adjacent one face of the lock plate 22. Thus, when the;

lock plate 22 is in its lower position, the latch 34 cannot be swung to a release position since its lower extension will engage the plate 2.2 and prevent such release movement. A spring 44 normally urges the latch 34 to its released position. The solenoid 32 controls a slide 46 on which a blocking pin 48 is mounted. When the blocking pin 48 is in the upper position shown in FIG. 2, it holds the latch 34 is in its most counterclockwise position and actually holds the extension 42 spaced somewhat 23% I from the plate 22. Under such conditions the mechanism is locked, even though (before the present invention) the lock plate 22 was permitted to slide upwardly until its lower end 50 engaged the nose of the latch 34.

The edge 59 of the slot'36 must extend downwardly below the nose portion 38 so that the plate 22 may move upwardly sufficiently far to clear the extension 42 of the latch 34 when the mechanism is released for dispensing. Until the plate 22 reaches that upper position, the latch 34 could not swing to'a releasing position even if the blocking pin 48 were removed. It is this lost motion, or free sliding of the plate 22, that the present invention seeks to eliminate. When a proper coin is deposited in the machine, the solenoid 32 is energized to pull slide 46 and blocking pin 48 downwardly away from the latch 34 whereupon the machine can be manipulated to dispense a bottle. The solenoid is then held in this position by a holding circuit until downward movement of plate 22 acautes the switch 30 wherein the solenoid 32 is deenergized and a spring 52 returns the slide 46 and blocking pin 48 to its uppermost position.

The elements and mechanism thus far described are all shown and described in great detail inth'e aforementioned Patent 3,115,274.

According to the present invention the lock plate 22,

which is of generally channel shape in cross section (see FIG. 3), is provided with a dog element 54 pivoted thereto at'the lower end of the lock plate. The dog 54 comprises a substantially flat plate portion 56 having opposed ears 58 pivotally mounted on a pin 60 carried by the lock plate 22. A torsion spring '62 surrounds the pivot pin 60 and one end thereof engages the lowermost flange 64 of the plate 22 while its other end bears against an edge of one of the ears 58 to thereby urge the dog to swing in a direction to project its upper end toward the plate 22 in the region of the slot 36. The upper edge portion 66 of the dog 54 constitutes a stop member engageable with the surface of the lock plate 22 to limit movement of the plate portion 56 under the influence of spring 62. A tongue 68 extends from the edge'66 and is so dimensioned and proportioned that it extends freely into the slot 36, with its upper or free end portion closely adjacent the'lower edge of the nose portion 38 of latch 34.

The nose portion of the latch 34 is configured to define a cam edge 70 and a hook portion 72. When the latch is in the position shown in FIG. 2, thehook portion 72 overlies the upper edge of the tongue 68 so that any effort to lift the plate 22 will result in the tongue 68 being engaged by the hook 72 and upward movement of the plate 22 is thereby arrested.

When a proper coin is deposited in the machine and solenoid 32 is energized, the blocking pin 48 is pulled downwardly to a position as shown in FIG. 4. When the pin 48 has moved downwardly at least as far as shown in FIG. 7, the spring 44 can swing latch 34 clockwise until its lower extension 42 engages the plate 22.

When in this position the hook portion 72 has been withdrawn sufliciently so that the cam edge 70 of the nose portion 38 of latch 34 overlies the upper edge of tongue 68 (FIG. 7). With the parts in this position upward movement of the plate 22 causes theend of tongue 68 to engage the cam portion 70 and'continued upward movement thereof will cause the pivoted dog 54 to swing outwardly away from the plate 22 since its upper edge can freely slide over the cam surface 70. The parts can then assume a position as shown in FIG. 4 and the plate 22 can continue to move upwardly suificiently to permit a of FIG. 5. In this position the plate 22 is perfectly free for unrestricted vertical movement.

After a bottle has been withdrawn from the machine the opened gate '8 closes and thereupon permits spring 28 to again pull plate 22 downwardly. As the plate 22 begins to move downwardly, it first reaches the position of FIG. 6 where its lower end engages the extension 42 of the latch 34 and forces the same to swing counterclockwise. This projects the nose portion 38 into the slot 36 and into, engagement with the dog 54. However, the dog can be freely swung counter-clockwise against the resistance of its spring 62 Asthe plate continues to move downwardly, the parts are moved to the position of FIG. 4 and then to the Position of FIG. 7. At about this time switch is actuated by the downwardly moving plate 22 to deenergize solenoid 32 whereupon spring 52 pulls the slide 46 and blocking pin 48 upwardly. During this upward movement blocking pin 48 engages a cam surface 74 on the latch 34 and forces it to swing counter-clockwise from the position of FIG. 7v to the position of FIG. 2 wherein the parts are all in their locked position, as they were at the start of the cycle.

While a single specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and. described herein, it is to be understood that the same is merely illustrative and that other embodiments may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims.

. We claim:

1. In a vending machine having a plurality of article delivery stations, a movable gate member at each delivery station, and a slidable lock plate movable with any one of said gate members to block movement of all other gate members, the improvement comprising: a slot in said lock plate; a pivoted latch having a nose portion extending into said slot and spaced from the ends thereof;

' a selectively retractable blocking member engaging said latch and normally preventing withdrawal of said nose portion from said slot; a dog member pivoted to said lock plate and having a tongue portion projecting into said slot adjacent said nose portion to thereby prevent sliding movement of said lock plate; said dog being pivotally movable to swing said tongue out of said slot and spring means biasing said dog. to swing said tongue into said slot.

2. A vending machine as defined in claim 1 wherein the end of said noseportion is formed to define a cam edge; spring means biasing said latch to swing said nose portion out of said slot; and means on said latch engageable with said lock plate, adjacent an end thereof, limiting swinging of said latch by its spring means to a position Where said cam edge is adjacent said tongue portion but wherein said nose portion is still within said slot when said blocking member is retracted whereby to cam said tongue out of said slot upon movement of said lock plate.

3. A vending machine as defined in claim 2 wherein said nose portion is configured to define a hook portion adjacent said cam edge, said hook portion being in position to engage said tongue portion when said blocking member is in position to prevent withdrawal of said nose portion from said slot.

4. In a vending machine: a slidable lock plate having an elongated slot therein adjacent one end, extending in the direction of plate movement; a latch pivoted intermediate its ends on an axis adjacent saidplate, said latch having a nose portion on one end thereof and extending into said slot intermediate the ends thereof when in gate 8 to open to bottle dispensing position. After the tongue 68 has passed upwardly over the cam edge 70, the dog 54 can return to its inner position, somewhat as shown in FIG. '6. By this, time the plate 22 has moved upwardly far enough for the extension .42 to start to swing inwardly under the lower end of the plate 22 and, upon further movement, completely remove the nose portion of the latch from the slot 36 and to the position.

latching position, the other end of said latch being spaced outwardly from a face of said lock plate adjacent said one end thereof; spring means urging said latch to swing in a direction to abut said other end against said lock plate; selectively retractable blocking means engageable with said latch to'hold the same in position with said other end spaced from said lock plate; a latch dog movably mounted on said lock plate and having an edge portion .in said slot adjacent said nose portion; resilient means biasing said latch dog to releasably hold said edge portion in said slot; said nose portion being configured to define a cam edge at its end and a hook portion adjacent said cam edge; said parts being so configured t hat when said other end of said latch is spaced from said lock plate, attempted movement of said lock plate. will engage said edge portion with said hook portion to prevent further movement of said plate and when said other end abuts said lock plate movement thereof causes said edge portion to engage said cam edge and swing said edge portion outwardly of said slot and over said nose portion.

5. A vending machine as defined in claim {wherein said latch dog is pivoted to said lock plate adjacent said 6 one end and is provided with a tongue portion extending into said slot, the end of said tongue comp rising'said edge portion; and stop means on said latch dog engageable with said lock plate to predetermine the position of said edge portion-in said slot.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,875,922 3/59 Hsu et al. 221--125 2,898,001 8/59 Johnson 221125 3,115274 12/63 Burton et al. 221-425 RAPHAEL LUBO, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A VENDING MACHINE HAVING A PLURALITY OF ARTICLE DELIVERY STATIONS, A MOVABLE GATE MEMBER AT EACH DELIVERY STATION, AND A SLIDABLE LOCK PLATE MOVABLE WITH ANY ONE OF SAID GATE MEMBERS TO BLOCK MOVEMENT OF ALL OTHER GATE MEMBERS, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING: A SLOT IN SAID LOCK PLATE; A PIVOTED LATCH HAVING A NOSE PORTION EXTENDING INTO SAID SLOT AND SPACED FROM THE ENDS THEREOF; A SELECTIVELY RETRACTABLE BLOCKING MEMBER ENGAGING SAID LATCH AND NORMALLY PREVENTING WITHDRAWAL OF SAID NOSE PORTION FROM SAID SLOT; A DOG MEMBER PIVOTED TO SAID LOCK PLATE AND HAVING A TONGUE PORTION PROJECTING INTO SAID SLOT ADJACENT SAID NOSE PORTION TO THEREBY PREVENT SLIDING MOVEMENT OF SAID LOCK PLATE; SAID DOG BEING PIVOTALLY MOVABLE TO SWING SAID TONGUE OUT OF SAID SLOT AND SPRING MEANS BIASING SAID DOG TO SWING SAID TONGUE INTO SAID SLOT. 